It was a big night for Port Stephens junior rugby with Medowie Under-15s and two Nelson Bay teams claiming Hunter Junior Rugby 7s titles on Friday night.
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The Nelson Bay Under-17 boys and Under-13 girls both won their grand finals and Medowie beat Merewether in the Under-15 decider after knocking out Nelson Bay in the semi-final.
The Nelson Bay Under-15 boys and Under-17 girls both finished third and the Under-15 girls cam fourth. The Under- 3 boys placed fifth in the comp from 16 teams, just outside the final top four.
In the Under-15, Medowie defeated Merewther 24-14 with tries to Ethan Harrison, Tiger Poolkerd, Kingston Tullock and Dallas Atkins and a conversion each to Harrison and Isaac Mabb.
The young Marauders beat Nelson Bay 21-7 in the semi-final with Kingston Tullock, Oliver Lawrence and BJ Osborne scoring tries. Lawrence kick
Nelson Bay and the Hamilton Hawks were the only clubs to have two winning teams in the finals.
Under-17s coach Rhys Cultbush said confidence was high leading into the grand final, but early game ball to the Wanderers made it a challenging first half, until a try to Xavier Stewart just on half time got the Bay back into the game.
"A quick change of game plan at the break helped us hold onto the ball a bit more and get into our groove," Cultbrush said.
"Long range tries to Patrick Slade and a second try to Xavier Stewart put us in front. With a little bit of time left Wanderers went on attack. Our boys stepped up the defence and secured a turnover try to Ryley Moses-Kinkaid which sealed the game."
Nash Campbell kicked two conversion.
Nelson Bay Juniors Seven's Coordinator and Under-13 girls coach of the Josh Gamgee was delighted with the girls' performance.
"I'm so proud of how well the team have developed and played, week in week out. An enormous defensive effort on the night that paved the way for the win. Well-deserved for the hard work throughout the season, Gamgee said.
Try's went to one of the youngest in the squad Amelia Lauti, and representative player Zoe Smith. Both girls converted, securing the win 14-7 against Merewether.
The two wins ends a tremendous season for the club, and with an almost full contingent of coaches for 2024, it bodes well for next year.
Registration for the 2024 season opens in less than four weeks, just ahead of Christmas. The start of 2024 will feature the youngest kids welcome to the Get into Rugby program, which will kick off in mid-February, before the regular season pre-season training starts in late February.
Michael Hartshorn
Since starting in 1985 at the then Melbourne Herald, journalism has taken me around Australia from Victoria, to the Northern Territory, Cairns in Queensland and now Port Stephens. After all those years there is still something special about informing and connecting with readers.
Since starting in 1985 at the then Melbourne Herald, journalism has taken me around Australia from Victoria, to the Northern Territory, Cairns in Queensland and now Port Stephens. After all those years there is still something special about informing and connecting with readers.
